"Bloody hell!" Sirius shouted in surprise. "You didn't ask her out?"

James lowered his head in shame. "No, I didn't. I didn't want to ruin what we already have and have to start all over again."

"How did she react, Prongs?" Remus asked seriously, popping a chocolate frog into his mouth as he flew back onto his bed.

James smirked. "Well, I have to say she was pretty shocked. She just stood there for a bit, her mouth wide open, her eyes wide. It was quite satisfying."

Remus smiled eagerly. "So she didn't look relieved? She looked surprised? Did she look a bit…sad?"

James squinted his eyes in thought. "Well…her head was cocked to one side as if she didn't really understand what was happening…and she kind of looked panicked…"

"'Course she did, Prongsie. It's you, damn it! I told you no woman could resist you!" Sirius boomed, beaming with pride.

James gave an awkward smile as Sirius messed up his hair with a fatherly sort of pride. "God, it was hard," he said, thinking of the look on Lily's face.

"What was, Prongs?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Not asking her out. It was really, really hard."

Remus gave his friend a sympathetic smile. "I'll bet it was, Prongs. But you just wait – because you did that, she's probably going to realize the feelings she has for you."

"I hope she realizes her feelings quickly," James frowned, "Because I don't know how much longer I can do this."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So he didn't even ask you out?

No, he didn't! What does it mean?

Um, why do you care what it means? I thought you didn't like James.

I don't. But I still want to know what it means!

Ok then. Well, it COULD mean any of the following:

1. He's over you

2. He is too nervous to bring it up now that the two of you are friends

3. He doesn't want to ruin what you already have

4. He thinks you're going to kill him if he even mentions it

5. All of the above.

Do you really think he doesn't like me anymore?

It is completely possible.

How has he been acting with you, lately?

Er…same as always, besides the asking out thing. Like, teasing me all the time…he totally stuck up for me with Skeeter…oh, and then there's what happened during rounds last night…

WHAT HAPPENED?

You two cannot tell a SOUL.

Got it. Now go on.

Well, I kind of…edged closer to him. And then he edged closer to me…and it went on like that all night.

You started the edging?

Well, yes, but he didn't back away or anything.

No man in their right mind WOULD, Lily. You're gorgeous.

No I'm not. But that's not the point. Is edging a good or bad thing?

Definitely a good thing. It means he returns the feelings you have for him.

Um, I don't HAVE feelings for him to return.

But YOU started the edging.

That can only mean one thing…

You like James.

Oh God.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Potter quickly entered the Head's Common Room, then stopped in his tracks. Lily Evans was lying on the couch, reading. He knew he shouldn't be so surprised that she was there, because she was Head Girl, but he still couldn't get over his surprise every time he saw Lily in the Common Room – in the same room as him.

He cautiously made his way over to Lily, and sat on the couch directly across from her. She looked up and gasped, surprised he was there. She quickly recovered.

"Hi, James."

"Hi."

James could have kicked himself. Hi? HI? THAT'S ALL YOU COULD THINK OF?

"Er…do you have a lot of homework to do?" Lily asked, trying to be casual.

"Yeah. And I'm assuming you did all your homework already?" James grinned.

"Well, naturally," Lily said, not aware that James was teasing her.

James laughed, making Lily rigid with self-consciousness. He pulled out a piece of parchment from his backpack, along with a potions book. They sat in silence for a while, Lily reading and James doing his potions essay.

Suddenly, James looked up. "Er…Lily?"

Lily jumped, startled. "What? What's happened?"

James laughed. "Nothing. I just wanted to know something for the potions essay. Do the newt's eyes or the salamander tails turn the potion yellow?"

Lily scrunched up her face in thought. "Um…I think the salamander tails."

"Ok, thanks," James said, going back to his essay.

They sat in silence once more, Lily staring at the fire and James scrawling frantically at his essay. Lily turned to stare at James, cocking her head and biting her lip softly. He looked up at her, smiled, and returned to his essay. Lily continued to stare at James, watching his every move, causing him to flinch uncomfortably. Soon James was done with his essay. He dropped his quill onto the table and turned to gaze at Lily. They grinned as they looked into each other's eyes – James into Lily's deep pool of emeralds, full of innocence, Lily into James' dark eyes full of mischief and determination. Suddenly, Lily reached across to James and grabbed his hand, blushing. For an infinitesimal second, his eyes widened and his body stiffened. Then, his eyes softened and he relaxed, squeezing Lily's hand affectionately. They sat like this for at least forty-five minutes, gazing at the other awkwardly. Then, James quickly glanced at the clock and groaned.

"Quidditch practice. Mandatory. Course it just had to be tonight," he grumbled, swearing under his breath. He gave an apologetic look to Lily, who nodded her head in understanding. James squeezed Lily's hand apologetically, looking at it sadly. He groaned, and pulled himself up, not letting go of Lily's hand until the last second. James slowly moved to the door, cursing each member of the team in turn. Lily laughed and ran up to him, grabbing his hand so he would stop walking. She quickly kissed his cheek, blushing. James' eyes widened, and he laughed goofily, as if in a daze, as he strutted out of the dormitory.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lily giggled as she turned around and curled up on the couch. She picked up her journal and started scribbling giddily.

I cannot believe what's just happened. It all happened so SUDDENLY. I had no idea I had it in me! Well, okay, maybe I DID know I had it in me, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. But still, it was quite a shock, especially to James, I suppose. I finally broke the barrier of physical and emotional tension between us.

And the scary thing is, it was FUN. It was FUN holding James' hand and staring into his eyes. It was FUN to kiss him on the cheek. It was FUN to watch him curse every member of the quidditch team in turn because he had to leave me to go to practice.

And I can't wait to do all of that again.

Paige and Whitney are right. It's always been there, even when I slapped him and told him he was a toerag. Even when I yelled at him for constantly asking me out, I secretly enjoyed it. It's time that I finally admit it to myself.

I love James Potter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James happily strode into the head common room, whistling merrily. He collapsed onto one of the couches and searched the room for Lily. She must have gone into her bedroom already, he thought. Suddenly, a small blue book caught his eye. It was lying on one of the couches, open to a page with a quill carelessly placed on top of it. He walked over to it curiously for a better look. His eyes widened in surprise. It was Lily's journal.

CRAP! Now what do I do? Do I just leave it here and not read it? He thought, Or should I return it to her, telling her I never read it? But she's not even here! I could just, you know, read a tiny bit of it, to see what she's been up to. Not that I care. It would just be…er…informational. Like, what if she is battling with huge depression issues and no one knows? And she writes about it in this journal thing? Then, if I read it, I can help her! So really, my reading her journal will be a heroic thing to do. Right.

He quickly looked round the common room to make sure it was empty. James cautiously picked up the journal and scanned the page that was already open, his eyes widening in shock at the end:

"It's time that I finally admit it to myself. I love James Potter."

He quickly placed the journal back down on the couch, grinning madly. He ran to his bedroom, locked the door, and shouted with glee, jumping up and down on his mattress. He had finally gotten Lily Evans.